If Paterno and Penn State knew, but didn't act, instead facilitating Sandusky's untroubled retirement - are Paterno and Penn State responsible for untoward acts since committed by Sandusky?

This is far from an outrageous hypothesis, especially given the convenient timeline.

Initially accused in 1998. Retires in 1999. Never coaches college football again. Sandusky was very successful at what he did. The architect of Linebacker U. Helped win national championships in 1982 and 1986. Recognized as college football's top assistant in 1986 and 1999.

Never any stories about Sandusky being pursued for a high-profile job. Never any rumors about him coming out of retirement.

But there's no shortage of stories and rumors about Penn State football sweeping problems under the rug, is there?

Why did college football let an accomplished coach like Sandusky walk away at 55? Why did he disappear into relative anonymity?

Plenty of questions remain yet unanswered. Potentially among them: What's more important, Penn State football or the welfare of a few kids?

But it's arguably harmless. A booster breaks a rule here and there, a coach has an extra-marital affair or is drunk in public (ooh, that one hits a little close to home doesn't it?).

What happens in College football stays in College football. That's the credo and they followed it to the letter without realizing they had turned into monsters.

On another level, what a bunch of dumbasses. Did they not learn anything from the Catholic church scandal and realize this would bite them in the ass when these kids grew up?

This thing is going to reverberate throughout College football. Look for new rules about any contact with kids at Penn State, then throughout the Big Ten, 11, 12, whatever the hell it is now and so on and so on. And it won't be because they're nice guys. It will be all about the money.

Penn State and Joe Paterno better have their check books handy for the civil suits.

bdog wrote:What happens in College football stays in College football.

That is part of it - this case was (I believe) more predisposed to secrecy because in addition to a sports team, you also have academia and a small town involved. All three can tend towards "we can handle this internally".

In a telephone interview later Tuesday with ESPN's "Outside the Lines," Triponey described a difficult meeting about a 2007 disciplinary case with Spanier and Paterno.

"At one point, I looked at the coach and said, I believe my words were something to the effect of, 'You know, this would all be so much easier if you would just tell your players to tell the truth.' And the response from the coach was something about, 'Oh, I can't do that. They have to play together. They have to play for me, and I can't expect them to rat on each other.' Or words to that effect. And after that conversation, the president chimed in and immediately said, 'Vicky, the coach is right. We can't expect players to tell the truth," she said.

Ha - that was the incident mentioned at the start of this thread, an incident Paterno referred to as being "embarrassing".

Now we know it was "criminal", not just embarrassing. So instead of finding those responsible. Paterno gives the entire team a slap on the wrist.

Yeah I get it - this is what happens in team sports, at all levels. But when does the transgression reach a level where all this crap gets kicked to the curb? Battery is not that level apparently. Nor are other things...which leads us to the current situation.